title: Evaluation of only the chin or lower abdomen for predicting hirsutism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hirsutism is defined as the growth of terminal hair in a male pattern in women; it affects 5-15% of women.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is evaluation of only the chin or lower abdomen for predicting hirsutism.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional diagnostic study, we randomly selected 695 women aged 15-45 years. The examiners scored the subjects on a scale of 0 - 4 for terminal hair growth on nine different body areas according to the Ferriman-Gallwey (FG) scoring system in a form given to the examiners before the examination. An FG score of 8 or more was considered diagnostic of hirsutism. If the sum of the FG scores for the chin or lower abdomen was 2 or more, the test result was assumed to be positive. Statistical analysis was performed using the MacNemar test, and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age group with the highest prevalence rate was 21-25 years. From the 695 subjects examined, 81 subjects (11.7%) had an FG score of 8 or more with a resultant prevalence rate of 11.7% for hirsutism. In our study population, 39% of the patients had an FG score of 2 or more for the chin or lower abdomen, and 61% of the patients had an FG score of less than 2 for the chin or lower abdomen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evaluating terminal hair growth on the chin or lower abdomen for predicting hirsutism seems to be an acceptable screening method.
authors.affiliation: Diabetes Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Homeira
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rashidi
authors.forename: Zohreh T
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Parizi
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
keywords: Evaluation; Ferriman-gallwey score; hirsutism